daveT
Senior Airman
Lindbergh's Jenny in Maben Mississippi. Excerpt from story I wrote about the Jenny photos.
Lindbergh's plane was the typical aircraft used by barnstorming pilots of the 1920s who made a living by flying town to town and taking people up for rides. Lindbergh's JN-4 Jenny was powered by the 90-horsepower OX-5 engine. Despite problems of limited power and sensitive stability, the Jenny nonetheless was a mainstay of early barnstorming. Over 6,000 JN4-Ds were produced during World War I and nearly 4,000 JN4-Hs in the immediate postwar years as trainers. The average speed of the Jenny did not vary much between landing speed (60 mph) and air speed (70 mph), with the engine running at about 1,475 rpm, its slowness aided the stunt flying of the period. There were few instruments in the cockpit— an altimeter, a compass, and a tachometer. Therefore, the best navigation aids were to know directions from the railroads and rivers. Moreover, the Jenny had no brakes, although it was equipped with a drag, a spring connected to the back of the fuselage that dragged on the ground. One particular problem with the plane's OX-5 engine, equipped with a radiator in the days before air cooled engines and ethylene glycol antifreeze, was its tendency to overheat. Flyers like Lindbergh used just water, which had to be replenished quite often. Most pilots, including Lindbergh, stripped away the leather straps on top of the engine for more air, but even then the water often boiled over in the air, and spray came back over the windshield. In addition, the short exhaust pipes could also be a problem, as fumes and oil spat back at the pilot's face and wind-shield, and occasionally ignited the dope (adhesive coating) in the cloth covering of the Jenny. Special equipment, clothing, and tools used by Lindbergh were limited. The only flying gear he wore was puttees (a covering for the lower part of the leg from the ankle to the knee), helmet, and goggles. Tools carried in the plane were meager, a few special wrenches for the propeller (spanner type) and the engine, and always a can of dope and some linen or cotton for wing repair. The OX-5 engine used Troparctic #30 weight oil and regular gasoline. The OX-5, with a 21-gallon tank, burned about nine gallons per hour, therefore giving Lindbergh a little over two hours flying time per full tank.
Lindbergh arrived in Meridian Mississippi without having any trouble on his way west after departing Georgia. After leaving Meridian he had no place in mind for his next stop and he intended to be governed by his fuel supply. He flew across what was then known as some of the worst flying country in the south. The only map he had was of the entire United States, with each state appearing relatively small. From the Charles A. Lindbergh book "WE", "I started in the direction of Texas, cutting across country with no regard for roads or railways. For a time during the first hour I was not sure of my location on the map, but soon passed over a railway intersection which appeared to be in the proper place and satisfied me about my position. Then the territory became wilder and again, I saw no check points. The storm areas were more numerous and the possible landing fields farther apart, until near the end of the second hour I decided to land in the first available field to locate my position and take on more fuel. It required nearly thirty more minutes to find a place in which a plane could land and take-off with any degree of safety, and after circling the field several times to make sure it was hard and contained no obstacles, I landed in one corner, rolled down a hillside, taxied over a short level stretch, and came to rest half-way up the slope on the far side of the field."
Although it was a satisfactory landing, Lindbergh ran into trouble after he was on the ground. The detailed account of what happened next is found in another Charles A. Lindbergh book "The Spirit of St. Louis", "A small but dark storm area was drifting in my direction, and only a mile or two away. I wanted to get my plane into a grove of pine trees at one side of the slope behind me, and tie the wings down before strong wind gusts arrived. So I opened my throttle, blew the tail around, and taxied across the little meadow at the highest speed I dared. It was too late to stop or ground-loop when I saw a ditch ahead, almost completely hidden by grass. I had barely time to pull the throttle shut. There was the crash of wood as my wheels dropped in and the propeller struck the ground. The tail rose, like a seesaw run amuck, until it was almost vertical in air. I thought my Jenny was turning upside down. Then it settled back to an angle of some forty-five degrees."
"I climbed out of the cockpit down to the wing, and then to the ground and surveyed my damaged plane. It was splattered with mud, but I could find nothing broken aside from the propeller. If I'd followed my landing tracks, or if I'd even been ten feet farther over, I wouldn't have hit the ditch at all. Raindrops began to patter on fabric. Northwest treetops were boiling in the wind. The rudder drummed against the flippers with a heavy puff. Several men and boys came running up."
Lindbergh had flown 125 miles north instead of west and landed in Oktibbeha County, 18 miles west of Starkville, near the town of Maben Mississippi. The sound of the aircraft had been heard all over the surrounding area and people began to flock to the site. Watching the Jenny descend below the tree line that stormy May afternoon were two brothers, ages thirteen and four. Awestruck, Carl Stallings and his younger brother Rook tore through the woods on horseback to the pasture where they found the young flyer inspecting a splintered propeller on the first aircraft they had ever seen. It was Charles Lindbergh's first "crack-up".
Lindbergh said: "What's the name of the nearest town? I asked. Well suh, if you go nawtheast, you come to the city of Maben. If you go sauthwest, you come to the city of Mathiston. When you all landed, you jist about split the difference between'em. What's the closest big city? Well suh, if you go 'bout a hundred miles sauth, you come to Meridian. That's about the biggest un we got 'round heah. Meridian, Mississippi! That's where I'd started from — I'd flown north instead of west! I thought they were going to say I was in Louisiana."
![Reserve+Album+121+no_+21[1] edit.jpg](https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachments/reserve-album-121-no_-21-1-edit-jpg.231881/ "Reserve+Album+121+no_+21[1] edit.jpg")
![Reserve+Album+121+no_+22[1] edit.jpg](https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachments/reserve-album-121-no_-22-1-edit-jpg.231882/ "Reserve+Album+121+no_+22[1] edit.jpg")
Note the damage to the propeller
Lindbergh's plane was the typical aircraft used by barnstorming pilots of the 1920s who made a living by flying town to town and taking people up for rides. Lindbergh's JN-4 Jenny was powered by the 90-horsepower OX-5 engine. Despite problems of limited power and sensitive stability, the Jenny nonetheless was a mainstay of early barnstorming. Over 6,000 JN4-Ds were produced during World War I and nearly 4,000 JN4-Hs in the immediate postwar years as trainers. The average speed of the Jenny did not vary much between landing speed (60 mph) and air speed (70 mph), with the engine running at about 1,475 rpm, its slowness aided the stunt flying of the period. There were few instruments in the cockpit— an altimeter, a compass, and a tachometer. Therefore, the best navigation aids were to know directions from the railroads and rivers. Moreover, the Jenny had no brakes, although it was equipped with a drag, a spring connected to the back of the fuselage that dragged on the ground. One particular problem with the plane's OX-5 engine, equipped with a radiator in the days before air cooled engines and ethylene glycol antifreeze, was its tendency to overheat. Flyers like Lindbergh used just water, which had to be replenished quite often. Most pilots, including Lindbergh, stripped away the leather straps on top of the engine for more air, but even then the water often boiled over in the air, and spray came back over the windshield. In addition, the short exhaust pipes could also be a problem, as fumes and oil spat back at the pilot's face and wind-shield, and occasionally ignited the dope (adhesive coating) in the cloth covering of the Jenny. Special equipment, clothing, and tools used by Lindbergh were limited. The only flying gear he wore was puttees (a covering for the lower part of the leg from the ankle to the knee), helmet, and goggles. Tools carried in the plane were meager, a few special wrenches for the propeller (spanner type) and the engine, and always a can of dope and some linen or cotton for wing repair. The OX-5 engine used Troparctic #30 weight oil and regular gasoline. The OX-5, with a 21-gallon tank, burned about nine gallons per hour, therefore giving Lindbergh a little over two hours flying time per full tank.
Lindbergh arrived in Meridian Mississippi without having any trouble on his way west after departing Georgia. After leaving Meridian he had no place in mind for his next stop and he intended to be governed by his fuel supply. He flew across what was then known as some of the worst flying country in the south. The only map he had was of the entire United States, with each state appearing relatively small. From the Charles A. Lindbergh book "WE", "I started in the direction of Texas, cutting across country with no regard for roads or railways. For a time during the first hour I was not sure of my location on the map, but soon passed over a railway intersection which appeared to be in the proper place and satisfied me about my position. Then the territory became wilder and again, I saw no check points. The storm areas were more numerous and the possible landing fields farther apart, until near the end of the second hour I decided to land in the first available field to locate my position and take on more fuel. It required nearly thirty more minutes to find a place in which a plane could land and take-off with any degree of safety, and after circling the field several times to make sure it was hard and contained no obstacles, I landed in one corner, rolled down a hillside, taxied over a short level stretch, and came to rest half-way up the slope on the far side of the field."
Although it was a satisfactory landing, Lindbergh ran into trouble after he was on the ground. The detailed account of what happened next is found in another Charles A. Lindbergh book "The Spirit of St. Louis", "A small but dark storm area was drifting in my direction, and only a mile or two away. I wanted to get my plane into a grove of pine trees at one side of the slope behind me, and tie the wings down before strong wind gusts arrived. So I opened my throttle, blew the tail around, and taxied across the little meadow at the highest speed I dared. It was too late to stop or ground-loop when I saw a ditch ahead, almost completely hidden by grass. I had barely time to pull the throttle shut. There was the crash of wood as my wheels dropped in and the propeller struck the ground. The tail rose, like a seesaw run amuck, until it was almost vertical in air. I thought my Jenny was turning upside down. Then it settled back to an angle of some forty-five degrees."
"I climbed out of the cockpit down to the wing, and then to the ground and surveyed my damaged plane. It was splattered with mud, but I could find nothing broken aside from the propeller. If I'd followed my landing tracks, or if I'd even been ten feet farther over, I wouldn't have hit the ditch at all. Raindrops began to patter on fabric. Northwest treetops were boiling in the wind. The rudder drummed against the flippers with a heavy puff. Several men and boys came running up."
Lindbergh had flown 125 miles north instead of west and landed in Oktibbeha County, 18 miles west of Starkville, near the town of Maben Mississippi. The sound of the aircraft had been heard all over the surrounding area and people began to flock to the site. Watching the Jenny descend below the tree line that stormy May afternoon were two brothers, ages thirteen and four. Awestruck, Carl Stallings and his younger brother Rook tore through the woods on horseback to the pasture where they found the young flyer inspecting a splintered propeller on the first aircraft they had ever seen. It was Charles Lindbergh's first "crack-up".
Lindbergh said: "What's the name of the nearest town? I asked. Well suh, if you go nawtheast, you come to the city of Maben. If you go sauthwest, you come to the city of Mathiston. When you all landed, you jist about split the difference between'em. What's the closest big city? Well suh, if you go 'bout a hundred miles sauth, you come to Meridian. That's about the biggest un we got 'round heah. Meridian, Mississippi! That's where I'd started from — I'd flown north instead of west! I thought they were going to say I was in Louisiana."
Note the damage to the propeller
